


And Then You

by lizchester



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Ficlet, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-19
Updated: 2013-03-19
Packaged: 2017-12-05 18:49:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/726689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizchester/pseuds/lizchester





	And Then You

They cling to one another for completely different reasons. Derek digs his nails into Stiles’ skin because he needs to feel human; needs to feel the life running through Stiles’ veins that makes him so very alive. Stiles pushes his body against Derek’s to try and capture the animal radiating through the Alpha, the power and strength he needs desperately to combat the weakness he feels in every moment of his life. The world is crumbling around them and they can taste the blood thick like honey in their mouths, but they only press closer because they need each other more than either of them will ever admit.

Neither of them knows when it starts happening, but soon their accidental contacts start to linger and become much less accidental in the first place. Derek will catch Stiles when he trips and his hands will hesitate on his shoulders, but hold long enough for him to feel the fluttering of the younger boy’s pulse underneath his skin. Stiles isn’t any more subtle by nature and soon begins openly maneuvering himself to stand next to Derek whenever he thinks nobody is watching, making sure to just barely graze his shoulder against Derek’s own. It becomes a form of comfort: When Stiles is having a hard day dealing with guilt over his dad or feeling left out and pathetic, he’ll reach out to Derek more and take comfort in the natural heat of his body. When Derek feels like his anchor of anger is pushing him down under the water too far, he’ll reach right back. Neither of them ever speak about it out loud, but their glances say volumes. It may be simple and a little bit fucked up, but it works.

Everything changes when Stiles shows up at his doorstep two days after the last full moon. “I had a hallucination that my dad hated me and I could barely handle it,” he chokes out and Derek doesn’t say anything when Stiles’ hands clutch at the dark fabric of his shirt, pulling himself closer to the warmth and letting out a broken sob. “I’m pathetic.”

It’s the first time they acknowledge any of this out loud, but Derek knows exactly what he needs because he feels just as hollow inside. “You’re doing as much as you can,” Derek whispers into his hair and pushes him closer, wrapping his hands around Stiles’ waist as tremors shake the boy’s body.

“It isn’t okay. None of this is,” Stiles groans back, and Derek lets Stiles’ body sag against his own because he can’t force himself to lie and say that everything will be fine. Nothing has been fine since he dug Laura’s grave, pain and anger swirling together as he watched the soil swallow her completely. He can feel his nails digging into Stiles skin and Stiles doesn’t cry out in pain, instead pushing himself against Derek as much as he possibly can.

“I know,” Derek says in response, and the two stand there molding into one another to try and get some sort of twisted relief out of each other.

They may both be broken and weak alone, but they make each other stronger when they’re together. And for now, that’s more than either of them could have hoped for.


End file.
